Winds of Change the newsletter of the

May 2005 Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition E Huntington, WV www.ohvec.org Citizens FED UP with the WV DEP Agency Must Consider Needs of Coalfield Residents, Not Just Coal Barons On Feb. 10, although snow blew and temperatures dropped, about 40 people converged on the Department of (so-called) Environmental Protection. We came to air our grievances to DEP Secretary Stephanie Timmermeyer, who had recently told state legislators that she was striving to speed up the mountaintop removal permitting process. Our action, organized by Coal River Mountain Watch and OVEC, was part of a multi-state, multi- group day of action against mountaintop removal coal mining. We were joined by French TV news, here to film a story about coal and global warming. We kept our convergence upon DEP secret, Coal River Mountain Watch volunteer Bo Webb gives new, as the last time we tried to meet en masse with true meaning to “DEP.” Timmermeyer (when she meeting with her via proper channels and said she would Grievances and fired Matt Crum), she got meet with us anytime we asked. (That’s funny, as that is not Demands Given to wind beforehand and what we found to be the case in the past – she prefers to DEP - see page 3 avoided us. This time, she have her underlings meet with us.) She denied she had told knew that we knew she was legislators, at a meeting about expediting mine permits, that in the building. We milled around in the lobby, waiting for she would speed up the permitting process, despite the Jan. her to agree to see us and singing a song led by singer/ 10, 2005, Beckley Register-Herald article, “Environmental songwriter T. Paige Dalporto. We were soon escorted back Chief Predicts Faster Permits.” Nine days after this meeting, to a meeting room, where we presented a list of demands. in “Timmermeyer Touts Faster Mine Permitting,” the Timmermeyer was angry that we didn’t book a Charleston Gazette reported: “Coal companies are getting new strip mining Inside permits faster and will continue to see the regulatory Summit for the Mountains ...... page 5 process streamlined under the Manchin Paper Trails for Voters ...... page 9 administration, Environmental Protection Secretary Mountain Justice Summer ...... page 13 Doing It Without Permission ...... page 15 Stephanie Timmermeyer told industry officials What MTR Gives Us ...... page 19 Friday… continued on page 3 1 Big Coal is Back, and Not For The Better by Dianne Bady In Raleigh, Boone, Kanawha and other southern counties, Big Coal is back. The first time they mined these areas, they left some coal behind in the mountains. Now they’re back, blowing up mountains and burying the hollows…for the good of the country, of course. Bush’s policies dictate that West Virginia people’s homes have to be blown up for Homeland Security reasons. We’re sad to see that newly-retired Marshall University football coach Bobby Pruett is starting a new job. Now he’s a paid spokesman for Friends of Coal, that down-home group run by a top public relations firm and funded by Big Coal. We sure wish the good coach would switch teams. Trouble is, our team can’t pay. Mr. Pruett’s father died of black lung and his father-in-law was killed in a mine slate fall. If coal mining had done that to my family, I’d be seriously peeved. Large portions of Raleigh County, Pruett’s home county, are being blown up or buried with what-used-to-be-mountains. If big swaths of my childhood county were now being obliterated, I’d be downright livid. It’s discouraging that Big Coal not only has the best politicians money can buy, they also can hire well-loved people to shill for them. People who can help Big Coal legitimize things like driving American citizens out of their ancestral homes because those homes are in the way of Homeland Security’s need for more, More, MORE coal. While Bush smiles and says he’s protecting America’s regular citizens, he’s also lying about how he’s encouraging renewable energy. Renewable energy companies didn’t pay for Bush’s election campaign. Fossil fuel guys did. West Virginia is the top state in annual pounds of explosives used within its borders. We’re also Number One in FEMA disaster aid. There is a connection here. Many coalfields folks realize that all those mountaintop removal mines on top of them aren’t doing them any good at all. In fact, the collapsing valley fills, the breaks in toxic sludge impoundments and the floods that wash away homes and kill people have all become a pretty big nuisance. How sad that “our” governor, and “our” legislative leaders are so busy pledging allegiance to Big Coal that they can’t be bothered to notice. After all, if they had to publicly notice that large portions of their state really are being blown up by outside elements, it could put a major dent in their next elections’ campaign coffers. Dianne is OVEC’s co-director.

Michael Morrison: Super Volunteer! by Scott Straight Michael Morrison has been an OVEC member since 2001. He first learned of OVEC through newspapers and our work with the people living near the Ashland Refinery (now Marathon/Ashland). As with most members, Michael’s initial role was that of a donor – giving money, but not being able to do much more. However, he got more involved in the last general election – he helped OVEC register over 1,000 people to vote! We offered both an hourly wage and stipend per registration, but Mike refused both, volunteering his services as he always has. Mike said that he decided to get more involved because he was fed- up with the corruption that he saw all around him. Michael Morrison, left, shows what he thinks about Since the election Michael has really increased the MTR. OVEC staffer Abe Mwaura is at right. number of hours he volunteers. He hosted a house party, attended by about 12 people, which was both an outreach Treasures, and then discussed their thoughts, hopes and and fund-raising success! Party goers viewed Appalachian fears regarding mountaintop removal in West Virginia. Mike 2 continued on page 5 Citizens Fed Up continued from page 1 perhaps Timmermeyer considered the anger, frustration and “Timmermeyer told coal representatives that she is extensive problems her agency causes coalfield residents eager to work with the U.S. Army Corps of and water drinkers and air breathers across the state. Engineers on a new, streamlined permit process continued on page 4 approved by the Bush administration.” Coal River Mountain Watch told Timmermeyer they had asked the DEP for quite some time for citizen trainings Grievances and Demands to DEP on how to read permits, as well as for earlier citizen input (Thanks in large part to Coal River Mountain Watch into the permitting process. Many citizens feel that by the volunteer Bo Webb.) time we are allowed to comment on mountaintop removal Coalfield residents, members of Coal River permits, the permits are already a done deal. Someone asked Mountain Watch and the Ohio Valley Environmental Timmermeyer if she had ever denied a permit. Coalition gather today, Feb. 10, as part of a multi-state, After a pause, she said she was unprepared for the multi-group day of action against mountaintop removal coal meeting and couldn’t answer. Someone did remind her that mining. she had denied one in a northern trout stream. She noted We decry the West Virginia Department of that the company changed its application, and the permit Environmental Protection’s increased permitting for was granted. (That permit is under appeal.) mountaintop removal mines and we demand real input in One disabled former mineworker (sick from coal the mountaintop removal permitting process. A list of citizen prep plant chemical poisoning) described the dangers of grievances and demands: coal sludge impoundments. He knows – he helped construct r We are disenfranchised by DEP, left out of the permitting them. Timmermeyer promised to meet with him and a DEP process. engineer for further discussions. r We decry the DEP Secretary’s promise to legislators Timmermeyer agreed to hold citizen trainings, that she will increase and speed up the processing of perhaps see about getting citizens involved in the permit mountaintop removal permits. process and to look into the matter of a coal silo at a coal r We demand that DEP not just rubber stamp mountaintop prep plant very close to Marsh Fork Elementary, where r removal permits. several students and teachers have died from cancer. As we left, we thought that before sleeping that night, r We demand that impacts on human health and human rights be considered before mountaintop removal permits OVEC Board of Directors & Staff are issued. r We note that DEP is not promoting a healthy environment Board Members r LaShonda Bare, Co-Chair John Taylor, Co-Chair in the coalfields. Gregg & Melissa Anthony Jeff & Victoria Bosley r We note that DEP has a duty to protect all citizens of Greg Carroll David Duke West Virginia, including mountain people living in the Eric Fout Winnie Fox Larry Gibson Regina Hendrix coalfields. Dan Kash Thomas Kincaid r We note that TMDLs target reduction at inactive or Elinore Taylor abandoned mine sites and do not significantly reduce Full- and Part-Time Staff discharges from active mine sites. Why? Dianne Bady Janet Fout Vivian Stockman Maryanne Graham Abe Mwaura Tonya Adkins r We question whether DEP’s Notices of Violations to Scott Straight mining operations are being followed through on and OVEC Webmaster Don Alexander collected without negotiated deductions. Winds of Change Editor Vivian Stockman r We deplore the fact coalfield communities cannot rely Winds of Change Birdseed Duster Monty Fowler r Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition on the so-called Department of Environmental Protection P.O. Box 6753, Huntington, WV 25773 to protect our environment. We do not have the same phone: (304) 522-0246 fax: (304) 522-4079 protection as other Americans. We are forced to defend e-mail: [email protected] web page: www.ohvec.org our homes ourselves. OVEC is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

3 Citizens Fed Up continued from page 3 But, on Feb. 28, Timmermeyer wrote Coal River Mountain Watch and OVEC a letter, which proved she really didn’t bother to reflect on why coalfield residents are angry. She rehashed our grievances, without really saying what she would do about them. She accused us of being unprofessional, deceitful and dishonest. She tried to shift the focus away from the issues that forced our meting, and onto the way we met. In reply, OVEC volunteer Michael Morrison and OVEC staffer Abe Mwaura wrote, in part: “Please understand, in our view, that if you had been acting professionally all along, we would not have felt the need to force you to meet with us on Feb. 10. In fact, it should not disappoint you, but rather shame you that citizens of West Virginia feel like they have to use the means we did in order to have a government official listen to them. “We arrived at DEP headquarters as we did, because of the problems in your agency - people feel like your agency never listens to their concerns, is highly dishonest, and can be bought and sold by In the lobby, making our voices heard! wealthy corporate interests. “You claim that our members used can’t change your opinion, but remember who is dishonest means to get you to meet with us. We the public and who is the public servant here. The very week you accuse of us of being dishonest, your agency had been dishonest with residents about the flocculent spill in Boone County. “Your agency failed to warn residents of Boone County that they were in danger due to this spill. “Your continued dishonesty (this being only a single example) puts people’s lives at French TV news cameraman and reporter, foreground, film as we crowd the DEP lobby. risk every day.” 4 More Disturbing Facts About Coal Sludge - Really BIG Dams Which is the world’s fourth-highest dam? It’s the Brushy Fork dam, right here in WV, which holds back Please Join Us BILLIONS of gallons coal sludge impounded by the May 20-22, 2005 Marfork Coal Company. At 900 feet, this Massey The Fifth Interstate Energy monstrosity ranks as the world’s fourth highest dam, just Summit For The Mountains behind the Rogun Dam (1,099 feet) and the Nurek Dam (984 feet), both in Tajikistan, and 4-H Camp Virgil Tate, Sissonville, W.V. Grande Dixence in Switzerland (935 feet). Planning for a Mountaintop- Brushy Fork is the tallest dam in North America, Removal-Free Future! surpassing Oroville Dam, Feather, Calif. (770 feet) and even the Hoover Dam (723 feet)! Space Limited. Register TODAY! Interestingly, Brushy Fork does not appear in the Call OVEC at US Army Corps of Engineers National Inventory of Dams. Please, even in the “off season,” call your state (304) 522-0246 legislators to tell them you want: 1) The most dangerous impoundments shut down Low Fee ($10 min., more if you can and reclaimed; afford) — Lodging and Meals 2) A ban on new coal sludge impoundments; Included, for Coalfield Residents 3) Coal companies to use alternative methods of coal waste disposal; and Activists Working To End 4) To know just what chemicals are in coal sludge Mountaintop Removal impoundments. We start at 6 Friday evening with Please visit www.sludgesafety.org for more refreshments, socializing and films. information. Click on the “Contact your Legislators” Saturday includes a strategy session, tab to follow links to postcards you can print and send. non-violence or “framing” trainings and If you would like to join in the Sludge Safety a pizza party. Project’s work toward shutting down the most dangerous Sunday we examine ways to achieve our coal sludge impoundments and banning new impoundments, agreed upon goals. call the OVEC office at (304) 522-0246. Super Volunteer continued from page 2 demonstrations at the Department of Environmental facilitated the conversation and articulated his position well, Protection and the State Capitol. even when tough questions were thrown his way. Everyone Currently, he and OVEC board member and gained from the experience, and OVEC gained a couple lifelong activist Winnie Fox are maintaining an informational hundred dollars to boot. Family and friends remarked table at the Marshall University campus, informing students afterwards how happy and proud they were that Mike was about OVEC’s work. speaking from his heart about something that he really Everyone on the OVEC staff would like to let believes in and is committed to. Michael know how much his support is helping to further If you would like to host a house party contact Mike our work. Everyone owes Mike a pat on the back for all of through the OVEC office at (304)522-0246. the selfless hours that he donates for the good of his fellow Mike has logged numerous hours at the OVEC citizens. office, helping with mailings and making phone calls to our Thanks Mike! Volunteers like you are key to members. Recently he helped plan and attended OVEC’s success! 5 Appalachia Hopes Cultural Heritage Map Boosts Region's Tourism by Raju Chebium stories. Gurgling trout brooks and raging whitewater boast Huntington Herald-Dispatch, March 15, 2005 of their role in carving hollows and plateaus from the region’s The Appalachian Regional Commission is promoting mountains, formed during three orogenies beginning 480 … Appalachian sites to a worldwide audience … million years ago in the Paleozoic Era. Near the water, a The agency paid the National Geographic Society Wood Thrush hidden in a Spicebush sings of the web of $180,000 to create the map* and a website listing 356 sites life. Densely tangled with over 1,000 different species of of historic, cultural or natural interest. The map is online mosses, lichens, ferns, wildflowers, herbs, shrubs and trees, soon was inserted in the April issue of National Geographic mountains once as tall as the Rockies rise away from the Traveler magazine. streams. This is the mixed mesophytic forest – the most The idea of the map is to introduce tourists to the biologically diverse temperate hardwood forest on Earth – historic, cultural and natural beauty of the 13-state region, shouting its fecundity in a profusion of oaks, hickories, and pump much-needed tourism dollars into one of the beech, poplar, basswood and black cherry. Above 4,000 nation’s poorest areas. feet, the hardwoods give way to spruce and fir, whispering The magazine, one of the most popular in the world, of forests usually found much farther north. These peaks gets 5 million to 7 million hits on its web site each month and and valleys of Appalachia helped to create a people who is read by about 4 million people… speak of ‘homeplaces’ because, here, home encompasses Janet Fout, co-director of the Ohio Valley the sheltering landscape.” Environmental Coalition in Huntington, called the partnership with National Geographic a good investment because it seeks Death of A Mountain to promote ecologically friendly businesses. “Compare the two economies: The forest’s and “It is unfortunate that we have invested money in ours. The sulfur dioxide that escapes from coal-burning extractive industries that destroy the beauty of this state,” power plants is responsible for acid rain, smog, respiratory she said, referring to the coal companies. “If you look infections, asthma, and lung disease. Due to acid rain and at the numbers, tourism is the number one growing mine runoff, there is so much mercury in Kentucky streams industry in the state. This is long overdue.” that any pregnant woman who eats fish from them risks * Ed. Note: A National Geographic Traveler editor, after serious, life-long harm to the fetus she carries. And this year, reading her essay in The Appalachians, invited OVEC’s thanks in large part to coal burning, climatologists found Vivian Stockman to write a word blurb for the map. record-high levels of climate-altering carbon dioxide in the Her submission: atmosphere. “This ancient landscape tells the observant traveler its myriad “A forest, by contrast, can store 20 times more carbon than croplands or pasture. Its leaf litter slows erosion We NEeD YouR HELp! and adds organic matter to the soil. Its dense vegetation The donations OVEC gets from folks like stops flooding. Its headwater streams purify creeks below you give us flexibility. We can use your donations, it. A contiguous forest ensures species diversity. A forest, in coupled with general support grants from short, does all of the things that mining and burning coal foundations, on things that may not be covered by cannot – that is its intelligence.” project-specific foundation funding. Erik Reese, from “Death of a Mountain: Radical Strip Mining To everyone who “gives as you are able,” and the Leveling of Appalachia,” in Harper’s Magazine, throughout this newsletter are examples April 2005. of how even the smallest donations are Low IQs in Mercury-Exposed Children Cost Billions important to the work that we do. The effects of mercury on fetal development are $1.00 pays for a 15 minute call costing the U.S. economy $8.7 billion a year, says a new from the office in Huntington to study. Some 317,000 to 637,000 children born in the U.S. members in Williamson who are each year have been exposed to unsafe mercury levels in organizing around water quality the womb, and many of them sustain diminished IQs, issues from the coal sludge researchers reported in a National Institutes of Health impoundments in their area. journal. 6 Just What Does DEP Stand For? It Sure Doesn't Protect Anything March 9, 2005, was DEP day at the state capitol. The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection set up booths under the capitol’s golden dome to showcase its work to state delegates and senators. We knew that the DEP would not present the whole story, so we decided to come up to the state capitol and present the truth about the destruction DEP is permitting to our communities, mountains, forests, streams – and our future. DEP Secretary Stephanie Timmermeyer, notorious for speaking at “Friends of Coal” meetings about the need to speed up coal companies’ permit applications, apparently got wind of what we were up to, so she gathered her employees and told them not to answer questions about mountaintop removal. She was also supposed to be interviewed on Hoppy Kercheval’s radio program, which broadcasts from under the golden dome during the legislative session. She didn’t appear for her interview! Given our last run-in with her, we reckon she just didn’t want to see us. Apparently, she does not want to be held accountable for her actions. Please note that there are many fine people working

Who does she work for, anyway? Scott Straight’s poster includes a picture of DEP chief Timmermeyer speaking at a Friends of Coal meeting. This photo was featured on the DEP website’s home page. Photos by Abe Mwaura at the DEP – people who want to help protect West Virginia’s people and environment. OVEC staff and volunteers had some great conversations with DEP staff about our shared concerns. Hats off to these fine folks who have to work in a badly politicized agency! And then there are apparently some who are concerned only with advancing and safeguarding their careers. Those are the ones who run when the people they are supposed to be working for show up.

Recycle your ink jet printer cartridges and help OVEC raise $$$. Call or e- OVEC board member Winnie Fox and West Virginia mail Maryanne, (304) 522-0246, or Highlands Conservancy’s Julian Martin wandered [email protected], to get your supply of around the DEP displays at the State Capitol, offering postage-pre-paid bags. the other side of the story. 7 Seeing Coal's Bad Side Up Close Don't Forget FAITH “A lot of churches refuse to acknowledge the fact that the creation is important to God. You have to acknowledge that the one and only God created these things. “We have a covenant with God, spelled out in Genesis. God gave us dominion, and a lot of people think that means He gave us the right to destroy everything and take what we want. “God meant He made a covenant with us, and He wants us to protect and to act as good stewards on this earth. “A lot of preachers and A group of Xavier University students spent their churches ignore that, and I don’t spring break doing service projects in West Virginia. know why. Every time I question The students met with union miners striking at Massey that, somewhere in the back of my Energy’s Mammoth mine in Kanawha County, mind God says, ‘Follow the money.’ formerly operating as Cannelton under the bankrupt It’s all about money. Horizon. Here, at the Catholic Worker Gift of Tears “They think, ‘If I destroy all retreat center in Roane County, some of the students this land and rape the earth and pore over the Winds of Change newsletter, after an make a lot of money off of it and OVEC staffer presented “Appalachian Treasures,” a give that to the church, then I will PowerPoint presentation on mountaintop removal forget about [where the money produced by Appalachian Voices. came from and] my covenant with God to protect His creation’.”

– Coal River Mountain Watch’s Julia Bonds, quoted in “Mountain Defender: With Fierce Faith, Julia Bonds Works to Save the Land and People of West Virginia,” an article by Beth Newberry, which appeared in the March 2005 issue of Sojourners Magazine.

We NEeD YouR HELp! Even the smallest donations are important to the work that OVEC does. $2.00 pays for a single newsletter, from the printing to the mailing. Our newsletter keeps people informed, and is used in- and out-of- state as an educational tool. We even have some libraries on our mailing list. 8 ✯✯ DEMOCRACY WORKS! ✯✯ Paper Trails – the Holy Grail for Voters’ Basic Rights! Working right up to the 11th hour of the session, thank for this great victory for the democratic process. “We volunteers with WV Citizens for HAVA (Help America Vote were definitely mightier together than apart,” she says. Act) won West Virginians important voter protections this She singles out many people, including many year. volunteers; several members of the legislature; the highly HB 2950 is awaiting the Governor’s signature as supportive Secretary of State, Betty Ireland; WV Citizen we go to press. Manchin claimed to be behind requiring a Action Group’s Julie Archer, who did daily legwork and paper trail when he was Secretary of State, so surely he will phone calls to move the bill along; and Robert Kibrick, a sign the law. Thanks to volunteer Hedda Haning, for volunteer with www.verifiedvoting.org, who presented a explaining what this omnibus addition to WV election law scholarly and convincing discussion of the issue of includes: computerized voting to a legislative committee. Hedda 1) The requirement for a voter-verified paper ballot on all suggests a donation to the non-profit group could help them touch screen vote counting machines (DREs), and an with their efforts in other states. extensive description of its required characteristics; This incredible work by 2) A random recount requirement for all counties, including grassroots volunteers illustrates that those using DREs; civic participation is where the 3) In the case of any inconsistencies greater than 1 percent rubber meets the road: or where the outcome would change, all ballots will be Sustained, positive social and counted and the paper ballot is the ballot of record; environmental change only 4) Enabling legislation for a ballot marking device, a comes about through active computer interface that completes an optical scan ballot for community involvement. disabled voters, thus fulfilling federal voting law requirements for persons with disabilities; 5) Enabling legislation for a precinct scanning device so that ✯✯ ✯✯ optical scan ballots can be checked before they are DEMOCRACY WORKS! deposited to prevent overvotes and protect against undervotes. Real Campaign Finance Hedda notes that there are many, many people to Reform - To End Fascism Money = Access and Influence “The Republicans are 95 percent corrupt and the “It’s all about access,” said lobbyist Cheri Heflin, Democrats are 75 percent corrupt,” Robert F. Kennedy Jr. who represents the West Virginia Nurses Association, among said. “They are accepting money from the same others. “These people on that list have long, established corporations. And of course, that is going to corrupt you.” relationships with individual legislators. It’s all about access Speaking about his book, Crimes Against Nature: to legislators and to the process. How George W. Bush and his Corporate Pals Are “An unfortunate part of the political process is that Plundering the Country and Hijacking Our Democracy, money can help you be more effective. It helps you speak Kennedy said, “There is no difference between the reaction louder and more effectively communicate your message.” I get from Republicans and Democrats, because Americans – from Feb. 10, 2005, article, “Leading Lobbyists: share the same values. If you talk about these issues in Developing Trust, Educating Lawmakers Are Keys to terms of our national values, everybody understands it.” Success In Capitol,” by Juliet Terry in the State Journal. In the book, Kennedy implies that we live in a fascist Fifty legislators, lobbyists and members of the executive country and that the Bush White House has learned key branch were asked to name three lobbyists they believe to lessons from other historically repressive regimes. be the most effective. continued on page 10 We care, We Count, WE VOTE! 9 ✯✯ DEMOCRACY WORKS! ✯✯

March Mineral much as $500 million on taxes already paid. Madness These same coal by Norm Steenstra companies bought themselves a Yes, West Virginia is judge for a mere $3.5 million. open for bidness! And guess Not a bad return on investment. who doesn’t want to pay taxes? Maybe the best fix for Social Hint: Disturbing things are Security is for Big Coal to handle happening in Charleston the private accounts. concerning OUR natural Coal, oil and gas, and resources. timber companies contributed You may recall that in ACCE$$ hundreds of thousands of dollars the January Special Session, to Joe Manchin’s campaign and coal, oil and gas and timber BUYING tens of thousands more to state agreed to pay a temporary higher senators and delegates. Add the severance tax to pay down the more than $5 million to defeat Workers’ Compensation deficit. pro-consumer Judge Warren Mighty neighborly of them, considering McGraw and we see the magnitude they largely created it. of the problem. A bill passed – SB 684 – that lowers the severance There is no limit to the greed of the extractive tax on natural gas from 5 percent to 2 percent on newly- industries, greed that adversely affects not only our drilled wells. The industry pushed this bill at a time when environment but also many aspects of our daily lives. natural gas prices are at an all-time high and new exploration Steenstra is executive director of WV Citizens in West Virginia is booming. Action Group. This article is updated from the March Not to be outdone by their partners in crime, timber 25, 2005, edition of Capital Eye. followed. Senator Plymale (D-Wayne), a former employee of coal and timber baron Buck Harless, introduced a bill, Kennedy which passed, that would lower the already pathetically low continued from page 9 timber tax from 3.2 percent to 1.2 percent. They cite “While communism is the control of business by increased taxes on workers comp as the reason for the raise. government, fascism is the control of government by Timber is the most dangerous industry in the state and is business,” he writes. “My American Heritage Dictionary largely responsible for the fund’s deficit. defines fascism as ‘a system of government that exercises a Some of West Virginia’s largest coal producers have dictatorship of the extreme right, typically through the appealed to the State Supreme Court, arguing that they merging of state and business leadership together with should not have to pay severance taxes on coal that they belligerent nationalism.’ Sound familiar?” export. They are also asking for a refund that could be as He quotes Hitler’s propaganda chief, Joseph Goebbels: “It is always simply a matter to drag the people We NEeD YouR HELp! along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, $2.00 pays for six letters to the Corps or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. The people of Engineers and other government can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is agencies to submit comments on easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, various proposed mountaintop and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and removal (MTR) sites, sludge exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any impoundments, buffer zone rule country.” changes, proposed floating coal Kennedy then adds: “The White House has clearly synfuel plants (gasp!)… and to just grasped the lesson.” continued on page 12 generally chew them out. 10 ✯✯ DEMOCRACY WORKS! ✯✯ This Year’s Legislative Session Underlines Need for Fair and Clean Elections in West Virginia by Janet Fout passed this session, there’s little room for Is it just me or have the rest of you noticed that doubt who was calling the shots under the special interests “ruled” during the 2005 legislative session? dome. Julie Archer, lobbyist for WV Citizen Where were the bills that would have improved the quality Action Group, had this to say about the of life for average West Virginians? When we can’t even session: get lawmakers to approve a bill that allows nursing mothers “I really think this legislative session to feed their babies in public (note: this is the primary function is indicative of why comprehensive of mammary glands), how much do they really care about campaign finance reform is needed – from the needs of people? third party bad faith and other tort reform When rule-making authority for water quality issues measures, to tax breaks (severance tax is transferred out of the hands of an objective body of reductions) for industries (coal, oil & experts (the Environmental Quality Board) and into the gas and timber) that profit from hands of the Department of Environmental Protection, a OUR natural resources. Industry political agency that bows to the demands of polluters, what also successfully gutted the EQB does that say about how well our legislators look out for the by taking away its rule making public interest? authority and succeeding in One has to wonder how much our politicians are getting legislation passed to listening to the people when the biggest environmental stack the DEP advisory “victory” was defeating a resolution meant to halt the panel with its cronies and hacks. Oh, I almost forgot that possibilities of new wilderness designations in West Virginia. the pharmaceutical companies successfully gutted the bill to When we examine the special interests issues that give the new Prescription Drug Advocate the power to negotiate drug prices. Need I go on?” “Why should we pay attention to YOU? You’re just the public.” If ever a legislative session underscores the need for “voter-owned,” Fair and Clean Elections in West Virginia, it was this one. Although the Clean Elections pilot project bill (which would have provided a test run in the 2006 elections) was on the House leadership’s “fast track” for passage, in the end, it stalled in Senate Finance. The good news is that we made more progress than ever, shepherding the bill through both the House and Senate Judiciary Committees. We can’t thank members of Citizens for Clean Elections enough for phone calls, letters, postcards, and e- mails from their members. The West Virginia Council of Churches, which chose Clean Elections as their number one legislative priority, can take much credit for garnering the support of legislative leadership. While many of our coalition partners had other front- burner issues, they made certain that legislators knew of their interest and involvement in Fair and Clean Elections. Who can remember a time in West Virginia when the faith community, environmentalists, educators, organized labor, senior citizens, social workers, advocates for children continued on page 12 11 ✯✯ DEMOCRACY WORKS! ✯✯ Clean Elections Needed Kennedy continued from page 11 continued from page 9 and others were working together? It truly is inspiring and Kennedy also quotes Benito Mussolini’s insight more than that – it’s powerful. that “fascism should more appropriately be called Rather than be discouraged, Citizens for Clean corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate Elections will continue to meet on a monthly basis and begin power.” planning a new campaign to raise awareness that regular “The biggest threat to American democracy is West Virginians deserve better treatment from the legislators. corporate power,” Kennedy said. “There is vogue in the “Voter-owned,” Fair and Clean elections is the White House to talk about the threat of big government. much-needed first step to breaking the stranglehold But since the beginning of our national history, our most of big special interests on our politicians. visionary political leaders have warned the American public For more information about Fair and Clean, “voter- against the domination of government by corporate power. owned” elections, check out our website at www.wvoter- That warning is missing in the national debate right now. owned.org. Because so much corporate money is going into politics, Much More Work To Be Done the Democratic Party itself has dropped the ball. They just quash discussion about the corrosive impact of excessive corporate power on American democracy.” (Excerpted from Kennedy: Fascist America by Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman.) China Bites the Coal Bullet The Chinese government is to introduce reforms intended to increase mine safety, and reduce environmental damage (as) part of a (possible) campaign to move away from a reliance on coal-based energy… Last year, 1.8 billion tons of coal was mined in China, which is now the second biggest greenhouse gas emitter after the U.S. in overall terms. For the past several years, OVEC board, staff and members have joined with the Huntington-Cabell Get ACtION ALeRtS! Branch of the NAACP for the march in memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. On Jan. 17, 2005, despite Stay Informed by E-mail: Join OVEC’s Action temperatures of 18 degrees F., about 100 people Alert! e-mail list by sending an e-mail with “join marched through the streets of Huntington, WV, to list” in the subject line to [email protected]. This is not a discussion list, so you won’t be swamped honor King’s work and to acknowledge that much with e-mails. remains to be done. Pictured are an OVEC board Stay Informed by Phone: If you don’t have or member, Marshall professors, and OVEC staffers. don’t like e-mail, call the OVEC office at (304) photo by Viv Stockman 522-0246 and ask to be put on our Call List. We’ll We NEeD YouR HELp! need your name and phone number. Don’t worry $2.50 pays for mailing foundations - we will only call to let you know about major events or actions. our grant proposals, which allow Stay Informed by WWW: Visit www.ohvec.org OVEC to continue our outreach to frequently for news and action updates. Check coalfield communities on the issues out our extensive background information in the of mountaintop removal and sludge Issues section. Look for your friends in the impoundments, and the legislative People in Action section. work of passing Clean Elections in West Virginia. 12 Kick-Off Rally & Concert Mountain Justice Summer Underway by Vivian Stockman On March 31, pro-mountain folks from Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and, of course, West Virginia gathered at the State Capitol in Charleston, WV, as Coal River Mountain Watch hosted a rally and free concert to announce the Mountain Justice Summer campaign. “Mountain Justice Summer is a campaign to bring regional, national, and international attention to the human rights abuses and environmental devastation caused by this most destructive form of mining,” said Coal River Mountain Watch volunteer Bo Webb. He and other Coal River members, as well as several folks from other Appalachian states, worked extra-hard to The MJS rally begins and the many signs get the point across. organize the rally, which featured fiery speakers and talented singer-songwriters, including former group or individual can support in whatever way they feel Secretary of State Ken Hechler, and whistleblower and coal comfortable, as long as there is no violence or property sludge impoundment destruction. expert Jack Spadaro. OVEC is 100 percent committed to non-violence. Mountain Like other groups working to end mountaintop removal, Justice Summer is a we respect the right of individuals to carry on in the grand loose coalition of tradition of the civil rights movement. This summer, OVEC individuals and groups continued on page 14 from across Appalachia and Outsiders??? Yeah, Right! beyond, all of whom In response to a State Journal editorial, “Don’t share the common We Have Problems of Our Own?”, OVEC’s co-director goal of ending Janet Fout wrote: mountaintop removal Chris Stirewalt’s recent commentary trivializes the coal mining. concerns of people organizing Mountain Justice Summer Katúah Earth with its goal to raise awareness to mountaintop removal First! didn’t want to coal mining. A massive American flag, put up just watch as He resorts to personal attacks referring to the across the Statehouse steps mountaintop removal activists and their “traveling eco-circus,” their “Birkenstocks, especially for the Friends of encroaches into and patchouli oil” – cheap shots meant to deflect from truly Coal rally. At the Mountain Tennessee, so the serious issues. Justice Summer rally, speaker group conceived People organizing the events this summer are seeing Matt Sherman pointed out this Mountain Justice mountaintop removal in their home state of Tennessee. tried and true marketing Summer (MJS). The Unlike the silent masses, they are not content to stick their technique: If something isn’t campaign is meant to heads in the sand, while mine companies have their way; selling, wrap it in the flag. be something that any continued on page 14 13 Mountain Justice Outsiders? continued from page 13 continued from page 13 will continue all our usual roles, one instead, they are moved to defend of which is disseminating that which they love – not just the information on mountaintop mountains, but the people who have removal, so we will certainly be lived among them for generations. sharing information on MJS rallies If the writer’s concern is and protests. about “outsiders” coming into West OVEC sees and Virginia to save us from ourselves, understands people’s building he’s about a hundred years too late, outrage over the destruction of given that coal and timber barons home and homeland that is stole our resources and land and are mountaintop removal. Coalfield now leaving us with their legacy of residents are under assault. They blasted mountains, repeated (we), and their (our) supporters, flooding, contaminated or dried up have tried to work within the water wells, annihilated system, but mountains continue to communities, deforestation, and fall, streams and forests continue to loss of culture to name a few die, regulators continue to turn a impacts – costs seldom counted in blind eye, and politicians continue Ms. Mountaintop Removal and Ms. the economic equation. to bow to the bucks of King Coal. Blasting appeared at the event and were Recently, 3-year-old OVEC, WV Highlands winners at the first-ever Ms. Mountaintop Jeremy Davidson was crushed to Conservancy, Coal River Mountain Removal Beauty Contest. death in his bed in Appalachia, Va., Watch, Kentuckians For The when a boulder rolled off a Commonwealth and other groups have brought mountaintop mountaintop removal site. The coal company was illegally removal into the regional, national and even international expanding a road. spotlight. This attention was bound to rouse others to action. Although Stirewalt refers to the “need for cheap, Already, some pundits are labeling the Earth First!ers abundant electricity,” the true cost of coal is anything but as “outsiders.” Now, more than ever, there simply is no cheap. such thing as an outsider. All life is connected and all struggles Just ask Jeremy Davidson’s parents or others who for justice are connected. continue to pay the price, every single day. Mountain Justice Summer Follows Friends of Coal Rally at Capitol The MJS event started less than an hour after the American flag. The Charleston Gazette article on the Astroturf group “Friends of Coal” (aka FOC - FIENDS of FOCers rally reported: Coal) held a rally on the Statehouse steps. “Secretary of State Betty Ireland also spoke at Miners were given the day off and bussed in to hear the FOC rally, as did former Marshall football coach about the joys of coal, extolled upon by the likes of Gov. Bob Pruett. Manchin and Rep. Shelly Moore Capito (aka Shelly MORE “Pruett, a Raleigh County native and paid FOC DeCAPITATE) as they stood beneath a giant spokesman, said coal mining played a big role in his life. He said his father died of black lung; his father-in- We NEeD YouR HELp! law died in a slate fall... $3.00 pays for a week of “I truly do understand what coal has done for newspaper subscriptions, which us in the past,” Pruett said.” allows the OVEC staff to stay on top Those FOCers sure know how to buy some swift of local and worldwide events that spokespeople! (Remember ex-WVU coach Don Nehlen affect our work, and to track the global saying that West Virginia needs to mine coal more like China publicity that mountaintop removal does? About 6,000 die in China’s mines every year.) mining is getting. 14 Mountaintop Removal in Mingo County - Without a Permit! by Barbara Chafin “The King Coal highway is a planned four-lane, partially controlled access highway that extends from Williamson, WV, to Bluefield, WV. This approximately 94 mile long roadway is intended to improve the transportation system in Southern WV while enhancing opportunities for economic development.” (Environmental Reevaluation, Red Jacket Project, May 2004). At the last public meeting for the King Coal Highway, in fall 2000, residents of Red Jacket and other Mingo County towns were told the mountaintop highway would change the area’s elevation by 80 feet. Full funding for the highway wouldn’t be available for 20-25 years, area residents were told. Even before all the new valley fills are in, Barb’s In Dec. 2003, Nicewonder Contracting filed a legal hollow suffered another round of flooding last May. notice in the Williamson newspaper, stating that the company Here, her husband Robey examines the damage. would be preparing the road bed for the highway. This ad said the road would create 14 valley fills with associated area. This floored me. This is the heart of the “Billion Dollar sediment ponds. Seeing Nicewonder raised my eyebrows, Coal Fields;” do they not know why? Though Ben Hark at because they’re the ones who own White Flame Energy. the engineering department denied it, there are underground In 1989, that company stripped 400 feet off a mines in the area. mountain above my hollow, Straight Fork Hollow, and one DOH maps showed that there were going to be of their ponds two valley fills in the hollow, the largest one of the 14 about “Nicewonder Contracting is broke, causing ¼ of a mile away from my home, and another about 1 ½ working under a Dept. of Highways contract. They do not flooding. Now this miles away. Though not identified on the maps, there are fall under any WVDEP/MR or same company abandoned mines on each side of these proposed valley OEB guidelines. They are would be putting fills and there are abandoned mines underneath them as well. however following some of the in 14 more valley This is the makings of a major disaster! mining guide lines for their fills, under the For our protection, before a flood washes away own protection. This is on their own behalf and we have no say guise of road bed our homes, and maybe our lives, I want to get bought out. I so or control of their preparation, wish our neighbors would listen and speak up. construction practices. without even the Mike Whit, who is in charge of the Mingo County Nicewonder Contracting is small protection Redevelopment Authority, told DOH the community is in responsible for their work and that a mining no danger. Whit is not in any position to make such a liabilities until the DOH takes over the project.” permit offers! judgment on the safety of the hollow! (WV DEP, Blasting Complaint That’s right – this DOH officials are talking to me like I’m a complete Investigation) is going on not lunatic. Since Mike Whit has said that we are not in any under the danger, they are taking it as gospel truth. permitting process of the so-called Department of After I called them over and over, the DEP finally Environmental Protection (DEP), but instead under the state gathered all the maps together, and should assemble a report Department of Highways (DOH). on the underground, abandoned mines. I am going to turn Through research and phone calls (by now, I’ve that report over to the DOH so those mines get on their probably spoken with 70 different people at the DOH) I maps. “Should previously unidentified subsurface mines be found out there were two fills proposed to go into the hollow found during construction, mitigation measures could include above my home. I obtained a copy of the highway’s bridging, sealing, subsurface reinforcement, backfilling, or Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) from the DOH. The capping the deep mine area.” (King Coal Highway Final EIS said there were no known subsurface mines in the build continued on page 16 15 Mining With No Permit continued from page 15 We are going to lose everything that we have worked for. EIS). Before they could seal and stabilize all of these mines They claim that they are going to build developments they could probably build a road from here to China. Just in and hotels, but it’s going to be all on top of valley fills that this area behind us, there are at least 10 underground mine are above underground mines. If the road falls in and there openings. is a major accident and people are killed, who is going to A new consolidated high school, proposed as part be responsible for that? Who is responsible now? The DOH of this project, would be built on a site where several seams will not even say who actually signed the dotted line to allow of coal have been mined. The Kanawha County Circuit Nicewonder Contracting to strip mine four seams of coal Court ordered a cease to the school building until a public and build 14 valley fills without a permit. hearing this May. Nicewonder is offering to pass the deed Nobody is willing to take responsibility for this. on to the school board in October if the remaining coal is mined. But Nicewonder doesn’t even own the land; the A Commitment to Dismantle Racism company is leasing the land from the Thompson heirs. Over the next two years, OVEC’s new Anti-Racism I do not understand how the DOH entered into an Transformation Team will be trained to lead Dismantling agreement with a coal company where state and federal Racism workshops. The team is part of the Commission on money can be used to mine coal without a permit. Religion in Appalachia’s commitment to dismantling racism This is not just incidental extraction of coal. They within itself, the groups it funds in the region, and ultimately are going down 200 feet and removing four seams of coal all of Appalachia. and then they will backfill 120 feet so that the elevation Understanding racism and privilege as institutions change will only be 80 feet! There is anywhere from 1.5 of oppressive and prejudicial power which infect our society million to 5 million tons of coal. This corrupt agreement at every level is integral to understanding and beginning to has now provoked a lawsuit from a construction union overcome social and economic injustice. The team will help because the DOH did not put the job up for bid! OVEC understand and address these issues in depth, which In apparent retaliation for my husband and myself will make our work more effective and sustainable. raising cane about this corrupt and dangerous deal, Pocahontas Land Company has now locked us out of our It's Official, She's a Bird Brain family cemetery. I feel that, in order to distract us, Pocahontas is also trying to force us to give up a piece of property that my husband Roby inherited from his grandfather. Two weeks after I started calling to find out what was going on with the highway they showed up saying that they had rights to the property which had been in the family since 1945! I’ve got a problem with a company coming in and doing something illegal and taking away millions of dollars out of state. In the process we are going to lose our home. We NEeD YouR HELp!

$4.00 pays for a ream of paper on which we can print everything from For the second year running, a Tufted titmouse living letters to legislators, to informational near her home has been alighting on Janet Fout’s fliers, to handouts for events, to the head and “harvesting” strands of her hair for its nest. newsletter you are reading right now. Janet, OVEC’s co-director, is an avid birder, but this takes the term “bird-brain” to a whole new level!

When you're finished with this newsletter, please pass it on! 16 Island Creek - A Growing List of Serious Environmental Issues by Moss Burgess Logan County citizen activist FLOODS We, citizens on Island Creek on Rte. 44 in Logan County, have been actively involved in flood prevention and stream restoration. We were devastated by floods in May, 1996 and Memorial Day, 2004. These two floods have been the highest, we believe, due to strip mining and clearcutting – many of us have lived here over 50 years. We know that flooding is due to various factors but the clearcutting and strip mining are definitely major factors in the height of the flood. The DEP asked for a meeting with us and we met on April 11 at the agency’s Logan office. Present were DEP Officials, representatives from Massey Coal, Arch Coal and our representatives. Discussion centered around using mitigation credits whereby the coal companies would help restore the creek. We are anxious to see something done. Also legal means are being studied, to be used if necessary, to recoup some of the damage done to us. Our flood insurance is so high, in some cases over $1,000 a year, that many of us on fixed incomes had to drop it. Our property values have decreased and we are left holding the bag!

by Moss Burgess PCBS Logan County citizen activist Sarah Ann is a community of Island Creek, which is a watershed about 20 miles long. Above that community, adjacent to the highway, there is an abandoned mine site. Here, we came across vandalized electric transformers, with their chemical-laden oil dumped on the ground. There are over 24 of these large transformers, which I assume were vandalized for the wire. Sarah Ann gets its drinking water from private wells, which are down slope and downstream from this contaminated site. The creek in this area flows into the Guyandotte River, which flows all the way to the Ohio. All downstream communities are in line for this known contamination. We were told the mine site was abandoned around 1992. I have e-mailed the Charleston Gazette and others, but I can’t seem to get the news out. Why wasn’t the bond used immediately to clean up this mess? Will the DEP do a better job with their policing of the Water Quality Board than they did with this bond? Some of the transformers on a snowy day.

E-Day! at State Capitol - Activists and Others Honored at Annual Event Over 30 groups and sustainable businesses impoundments. Later that evening at the E-Day! reception, participated in the West Virginia Environmental Council’s Steve Himes treated us to some smooth jazz before an 16th annual E-Day! at the State Capitol. This year, we tabled emotional awards ceremony. Many thanks to the E-Council in the hallways in front of the House and Senate chambers, lobby team, staff and board of directors for pulling off an so we had loads of traffic. As usual, though, legislators largely excellent E-Day! steered clear of our displays – must be scary for them to 2005 Environmental Council Award Winners: contemplate the people’s need for clean air, clean water Laura Forman Grassroots Environmental Activist – and clean elections. Judith S. Rodd. New exhibitors this year included the Citizens for Linda Schnautz Environmental Courage – Maria Clean Elections and the Sludge Safety Project (SSP). Mingo Gunnoe. County resident Walter Young, Boone County resident Green Entrepreneur – LaPaix Herb Farm, Myra Maria Gunnoe and her daughter, and United Mine Worker Bonhage-Hale. miners Dwight Siemiaczko and Charlie Treadway staffed Chuck Chambers Public Service – Libby Chatfield. the SSP table, handing out brochures about coal sludge Mother Jones Award – Dave Saville. 17 These Are Your Mountains . . .

Clockwise from top: An undisturbed vista of some of the oldest mountains in the world, rich in diversity of trees, plants and animals; A mountain homeplace in the fall, soon to be the target of a mountaintop removal mining project; Black-winged Damselflies, one of the building blocks of the mountain ecosystem, have a hard time finding food in barren, “reclaimed” mountaintop removal sites.

We NEeD YouR HELp!

$5.00 pays for 83 pages of printing. This allows us to produce everything from fliers and brochures to fundraising letters, getting the word out to an ever-growing audience of concerned people. 18 . . . These Are Your Mountains on Massey. . . or Arch . . . or . . .

Clockwise from top left: More explosives are used to decapitate mountains in Appalachia then have been used fighting the “war” on terror; Illegal drainage from a coal sludge impoundment in Mingo County. When tested, this so-called water proved to be very high in nickel; “Reclamation” underway at a mountaintop removal/ valley fill mining site. The patchy areas above the building are where the coal companies are attempting to get grass to grow on churned-over subsoils and bare rock.

ANY QUESTIONS? 19 THANKS - To all our members and supporters! To each of you who has written a letter to the editor Kitty Lozier. recently. Thanks to everyone To all of you who called, e-mailed and visited legislators who sent postcards, letters, during the session. e-mails or called their To Pat Barker for helping with data entry and data legislators asking them to collection. support the Clean To Mary Wildfire and Greg Wood for editing. Elections pilot project. To Winnie Fox, Julian Martin, John Gancs for a special Thanks action at the legislature. to the WV To R.B. for continually offering crash space and generally Council of pampering OVEC staff when they have to stay in Charleston. Churches, the Affiliated Construction Trades Foundation To Larry Gibson for his patience and hard work in and the West Virginia Education Association for the use of figuring out details for this summer. To John Moorhead for their facilities for Clean Elections meetings. help with the Sludge Safety Project (SSP) mailing. Thanks – and sorry! – to all the people we To Michael Morrison for all of his work on SSP and inadvertently left off this list! for hosting a wonderful house party. To Morgan and Graham Oberly for their help with the Summit for Mountains mailing. Evangelical Leaders Join Global To Carol Young and Denver Mitchell for help on E- Warming Battle, Cite Stewardship Day! by Laurie Goodstein To Brandi Jacobs, Mike Morrison and Chris Worth New York Times, March 16, 2005 for joining the Dismantling Racism team. A core group of influential evangelical leaders has To Maria Gunnoe, Walter Young, Dwight Siemiaczko put its considerable political power behind a cause that has and Charlie Treadway at the Sludge Safety Project table on barely registered on the evangelical agenda, fighting global E-Day! warming. To the WV Environmental Council and WV Citizen These church leaders, scientists, writers and heads Action Group lobby teams! of international aid agencies argue that global warming is an Thanks to the Unitarian Universalist Church in Charleston urgent threat, a cause of poverty and a Christian issue for providing monthly meeting space to the Friends of the because the Bible mandates stewardship of God’s creation. Mountains Coalition meeting. The Rev. Rich Cizik, vice president of governmental affairs for the National Association of Evangelicals, said, “I Thanks to the Peytona Church of Christ for providing don’t think God is going to ask us how He created the monthly meeting space to the Sludge Safety Project. Earth, but He will ask us what we did with what he created.” For perseverance on Clean Elections: Elinore and …People on all sides of the debate say that if Nancy Taylor, Michael Morrison, Rev. Dennis Sparks, Susan evangelical leaders take a stand, they could change the Sobkoviak, Steve White, Julie Archer, Si Galperin, Laura political dynamics on global warming. Phillips, Sarah Kidd, John Welbourn, Helaine Rotkin, Mayor The (Bush) administration has refused to join the Richie Robb, Sue Price, Perry Bryant, Kathryn Stone, Mary international Kyoto Treaty and opposes mandatory emission Wildfire, Carol Warren, Don Garvin, Allan Tweddle, and controls. The issue has failed to gain much traction in the We NEeD YouR HELp! Republican-controlled Congress. An overwhelming majority of evangelicals are Republicans, and about four out of five $10.00 pays for 1 day of rent for evangelicals voted for Bush last year ... our office space in Huntington. The … In October, the association paved the way for view isn’t too great, but it does give broad-based advocacy on the environment when it adopted us enough room to work and store “For the Health of the Nation: An Evangelical Call to Civic materials. And at least we do have Responsibility,” a platform that included a plank on “creation windows now! care” that many evangelical leaders say was unprecedented. 20 Voices of the Coalfields, Voices of Mountain Lovers Heard Near and Far! The coal industry is spending millions trying to “brand” mountaintop removal and coal in general as “cleaner” and “greener.” Maybe the industry thinks all the mercury it is spewing into the air and water and eventually into our bodies will addle our brains to the point we believe their tripe! Letters to the editor, one of the most heavily-read sections of newspapers, are a great free way to counter the lies. Show our power and make your voice heard by writing letters to the editors. No matter where you live, we are asking that you regularly write to your local newspaper, as well as other papers across the state and nation. Try to keep your letters short, about 200 words (this varies depending on the paper). Be sure to include your name, town and phone number (it won’t be published; it’s only used to verify with you that the letter is yours). You can get contact information for almost any paper in the nation at www.newslink.org/. Here are some recent letters to the editors. For the Sake of the Mountains – Write!

Mining coal only darkens our future Huntington Herald-Dispatch, April 14, 2005 Our sons and daughters are in Iraq because George W. Bush started an unprovoked war with Iraq. What the Iraq mess has to do with coal production in West Virginia is known only to the Logan Coal Vendors Association and the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce. It has nothing whatever to do with freedom in the U.S. It is very difficult for me to believe the Logan Coal Vendors Association would stoop so low as to even try to equate coal production with patriotism and the ‘future of our children and grandchildren.” Why not just come right out and say, “raping West Virginia of her natural resources is the patriotic and Christian thing to do. The more mountains we destroy, the greater will be our reward in Heaven.” In fact, the more coal we rip from our scenic and wondrous mountains the more bleak the future of our children and grandchildren will be. Only the Don Blankenships of the world would think otherwise. Bill Morefield Princeton, W.Va.

Mountaintop mining is illegal under law Huntington Herald-Dispatch, April 14, 2005 Mountaintop removal is against the law. There are ample laws to protect people that are being ignored by state and federal government, like the Clean Water Act, which makes valley fills illegal. This means that government agencies are conspiring with the coal companies in criminal activities. Without enforcement of these laws, the health and well-being of all West Virginians is endangered by outside companies like Massey who care nothing for the beauty of our state and the well-being of our residents. We as West Virginians should come together to demand that these laws are enforced to their fullest extent and call for the prosecution of any violators. We should demand that Stephanie Timmermeyer of the Department of Environmental Protection stop permits for mountaintop removal, a criminal practice that causes floods, damages people’s wells and homes, and produces millions of gallons of toxic sludge. This is not coal mining. This is simply raping and destroying of our land. Deep mining creates more jobs. There are some Christians who say that Jesus is coming anyway, and we don’t have to worry about this destruction. This cannot be an excuse for us to allow something that God would really dislike. Do people quit their jobs because Jesus is coming? Then neither should we stop working to end this madness of mountaintop removal. Michael Morrison Barboursville

Hills not filled with the sound of music Charleston Gazette, March 3, 2005 The hills of West Virginia are not filled with the sounds of music. They are filled to the horrific screams of Walker continued on page 23 21 CALENDAR This Summer: Mountain Justice Summer. Visit www.mountainjusticesummer.org to find out how you can hook up with events in your area. has worked with the West Virginia Department of May 6: 9:30 a.m. Chief Logan State Park. Logan, WV. Environmental Protection to set up a citizen training on how The State Historic Preservation meets to hear the Friends to read coal mining permits. To register for the training, call of the Mountains’ proposal to preserve Blair Mountain as a Pam Nixon, environmental advocate, at (800) 654-5228 National Historical Site. Blair Mountain, a miners’ battle or e-mail her at [email protected]. ground, could be destroyed by mountaintop removal. We’ll Topics include the Surface Coal Mining and need a good showing of supporters to save this historical Reclamation Act, basic map reading, National Pollutant site. Call the OVEC office for details, (304)522-0246. Discharge Elimination System permits, 401 Section permits, coal waste impoundments, blasting and how to navigate the May 7: 7 p.m. Cultural Center in Charleston, WV. Free DEP Website. preview screening of the PBS special “The Appalachians.” The evening includes a 50-minute excerpt of the three-hour May 14: 7 p.m. Free! West Virginia Labor History documentary, live music by Gandydancer, who play in the Association Presents the First WV Labor History Film film. Companion books and CDs will be on sale. Author Festival, with speakers Davitt McAteer and Jack Spadaro. Denise Giardina, Coal River's Judy Bonds and OVEC’s Films: “Monongah, 1907,” produced by Mr. McAteer about Janet Fout were filmed for the 3-hour documentary. a mining disaster that killed 362 miners (29 mins); and “Sludge,” a new film from Appalshop on the 2002 Martin May 8, May 15, May 22: WV Public Broadcasting TV County Disaster with a focus on Jack Spadaro, a leading will air one-hour segments of “The Appalachians.” On May mine safety advocate (55 mins). At the LaBelle Theatre, 18, they will air the entire 3-hour documentary. For listings 311 D St., South Charleston, WV. in other areas, follow the links at www.sierraclub.org/ appalachia/film/. May 20-22: 5th Summit for the Mountains. Please plan to attend the 5th Summit for the Mountains, from Friday May 14: 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Free training at the WVDEP evening May 20 thru Sunday afternoon May 22. This year’s offices, 601 57th St., Charleston, WV. Lunch on your own, Summit will be held at Camp Virgil Tate, Sissonville, WV. plenty of nearby restaurants. Coal River Mountain Watch To register, call the OVEC office ASAP. At 304-522-0246.

We NEeD YouR HELp! June 17-19: Renewable Energy and Sustainable Living Fair in Wisconsin. OVEC’s Dianne Bady is a keynote speaker, $10.00 pays for two day’s upkeep of the See www.the-mrea.org for details. website. Yes, it’s worth it! Have you been to our website lately? The website allows us to do outreach People Pollution is Wearing Out Earth to hundreds of people every week. We get requests Knight-Ridder Newspapers, April 1, 2005 for permission to use our photos weekly, sometimes We humans are using the Earth to improve our lives, daily, from students, text book publishers, and but our children and grandchildren will be forced to live in a publications as large as the New York Times, to as deteriorating environment that endangers their existence, small as groups’ newsletters. We ask for a more than 1,300 scientists warn … But it’s not hopeless, donation from the for-profit publications, the scientists said. while we ask non-profits to link to our The five-year study … arrived at a mixed prognosis website. for planet Earth: Its deteriorating environmental health is The website also allows treatable, but only with aggressive and expensive corrective supporters to make on-line donations measures …. through PayPal. We receive Scientists looked at 24 “services” the Earth’s donations from all over the world this ecosystem provided and found that 15 are in trouble. See way. the report at: www.millenniumassessment.org. 22 Letters to the Editor band needs instruments, singers and lyricists. continued from page 21 Winnie Fox Big Cats ripping the guts out of the mountains and roars of Huntington dynamite blowing up the hillsides and destroying our life- Manchin, Massey Not Our Kings sustaining water. The sounds of the screeching machines Charleston Gazette, Jan. 27, 2005 sound out the death and destruction of the inevitable floods Why does the new governor want to silence the and disasters. citizens’ employees? Does it have something to do with the The sounds in the Legislature are not an orchestra recent commitment to speed up mining permits, including of justice for the coalfield residents, but the same old anthem mountaintop removal permits through the DEP office? that is sung by the patriots of the coal corporations. Stephanie Timmermeyer’s job was in jeopardy The day that Bush grabbed power was the day the before the election until she made a public statement that music died. The parents/grandparents of the sacrificed the mining permits will be processed more quickly. children hear taps played out as yet another generation is Are we now becoming a police state ruled by brought home from the war to be buried. Massey’s Don Blankenship and other coal barons through The corporate-owned media are the dancing a puppet governor’s office? Is our state poised for the final monkeys that are tied to the organ grinder as the people of rape? We in the coalfields will not be silenced. West Virginia are expected to be spectators of the farcical It is time for all West Virginians to stand up for their entertainment as the cup is filled with the taxpayer’s money. rights. The governor is not king, and neither are the coal Another song with different lyrics needs to be sung. barons. It’s time to take back our rights! We must celebrate life with songs of protest and create an Bo Webb organized orchestra of harmonic chords of resistance. This Naoma

Make a DIFFERENCE! Join a WINNING TEAM! Get ACTIVE with OVEC! r OVEC stopped plans for a toxic waste incinerator in Ohio that would have imported waste from across the nation. r OVEC organizing forced an end to chronic pollution violations at the Ashland Oil refinery in Catlettsburg, Ky. r OVEC led the broad effort to stop plans for the nation’s largest pulp mill, in Apple Grove, WV. r An OVEC lawsuit compelled state government to enforce important provisions of the federal Clean Water Act. r OVEC worked with other groups to stimulate passage of first-step campaign finance reform laws in West Virginia. r OVEC is changing the face of "politics as usual" in West Virginia through our Clean Elections work. r OVEC is committed to bringing an end to mountaintop removal/valley fill strip mining.

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23 More mountaintop removal is encroaching on OVEC board member Larry Gibson’s Kayford Mountain homeplace. Creating a very dangerous situation, is dumping boulder-laden former mountaintop over a hillside, which meets the road up to the mountain.

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